Since I’m doing some spring cleaning this week I though that I’d share how we corral our DVDs.  I got tired of having to search through the cases (because somehow they never managed to get back into the right one) so I solved this problem by buying a CD organizer case- like this one- and put all of our DVDs there.

Since I’m a nerd I put the girls DVDs in the front, Baby #1’s in the back and ones they both like in the middle.  I have a seperate case for the few DVDs that Hubs and I own.

This week I took all of our DVD cases and put them in a box to go into the attic.  That way if the kids ever want to sell/give away the DVD they’ll still have the case and it’s not taking up valuable real estate in our home anymore.

That’s what works for me this week.  For more tips head over to We are THAT Family.

  Let me start out by saying that I am no way a financial expert when it comes to giving kids an allowance- I just finally found a system that works for me.  My older kids (ages 5 and 4) get an allowance now and they each get $1.00 for however old they are.  So for Baby #1- he gets $5.00 a week.  He gets to keep $3.00 to spend, $1.00 goes to tithe and $1.00 goes to savings.

The hang up I always had was the spending part.  It was always such a pain to empty their piggy banks right as we’re trying to head out the door.  So I threw the piggy banks out.  I decided that they’d each get a Ziploc baggie.  They have a bag for their savings and a bag for their spending money (tithe gets paper clipped to the calendar).  They get to spend their money once a month- that way they have a little more to spend and they don’t end up buying a bunch of junk in the dollar section of Target.

This last time for their spending we did things a little differently.  Baby #1 really wanted to get some smaller Legos and I finally feel okay with Baby #3 not putting them into her mouth and choking so I agreed.  We priced them at Target on a previous trip and knew that a small box of Legos was $20.  I knew that if we did a little digging we could find a better deal.  So I checked craigslist and found someone selling a Lego table, with a bunch of the little Legos for $20.  I asked if she’d take $15 (Baby #1 only had $17 to spend) and she accepted my offer.

We drove over and bought the table and Baby #1 got a good lesson that if you buy used you get more for your money.

I took Baby #2 to our local children’s used clothing/toy store and she found a Barbie keyboard for only $5!  She had $8 to spend so she also picked up a Barbie.  Unfortunately I wasn’t paying enough attention and didn’t realize that she picked out Hoochie Barbie (what is up with Barbie’s clothes these days??  That’s a whole other post).

What works for me this week is having the allowance bagged so it’s ready to go when you do go shopping and teaching my kids the value of waiting and buying things used to get a better deal.

Check out We are THAT Family for more WFMW ideas.

  Summer will be here before you know it so I wanted to post something that I’ve started working on- our summer fun basket.  We don’t do Easter baskets for our kids- and to be perfectly honest it’s an expense thing.  When you have to buy Easter baskets for three kids it gets a little expensive.  Add to that all you usually get is a bunch of junk that gets thrown away within the week and it just seems silly (to us- no judgement on anyone else that does it).

Instead of an Easter basket we do a summer fun basket (or bucket- some sore of large container that’s cheap and can hold a lot of stuff).  I got the idea when my kids finished pre-school last year and all of the parents brought one thing and the teachers put of all our things (sidewalk chalk, cheap books, bubbles- etc) into a bucket for the kids to have for the summer.

That’s what I’m doing this year.  I’ve already starting to scout the sales and I’ll really start looking when all of the little Easter toys go on clearance.  I’ll put in books, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, coloring books.  Baby #1 will get a Leapster game (on sale at Target this week- plus a coupon it’s only $10- as opposed to $25)- that will be the biggest ticket item in the basket) the girls will probably get a movie that they like.

I’ll put everything in a basket/bucket and they’ll get it when they get home from the last day of school.  It’s a fun tradition that doesn’t have to be expensive, but it’s a great memory for my kids.

For more WFMW ideas head over to We Are THAT Family.

Come back tomorrow for Things I Love Thursday.

We’re planning a trip to Virginia this summer and I’m already starting to plan to make the car ride better.  This year I’m going to buy 3 canvas totes from the craft store and fill them with fun stuff for the kids to do during the car ride.  I’m planning on letting them paint their own bag – to really make it their own.  I’m already scouting the clearance racks at Target and Walmart so that I’m not able to spread the expense out over several months instead of buying everything the week before we leave.  Yesterday I found two Barbie movies for $5.50 each for Baby #2 who loves everything Barbie.  They won’t get their bag until we leave for our trip- that way it’ll be a surprise. 

 This works for me- check out Rocks in my Dryer for more tips.

  My family is trying to reduce our debt and one way we do that is whenever possible- not paying retail.  Hubs first started shopping at our local thrift store when Baby #1 needed some clothes for winter.  He bought 13 items for only $20 (it was 50% off day).  Everything he bought was in good condition and it was all name brand stuff.  Everything from Osh Kosh to Carters to Gap! 

On Monday I mentioned that the kids need some shoes and he suggested that I check the thrift store (I’ll admit that I was thinking about how Target has sandals on sale).  So I decided to check it out and this is what I found:

I got 3 pairs of swim trunks (Polo and OP are 2 of the brands!) and a pair of sandals for Baby #1 and a pair of Keds for Baby #2.  You won’t always find what you’re looking for, but it’s always a good place to start.  We also shop the children’s resale shops, but the thrift store is usually about half of what the resale shops charge.  It’s a little more work, but it can really pay off in the end.

This works for me- check out more tips at Rocks in my Dryer.

  Baby #1 is in Awana which means he has to learn a new Bible verse every week.  We’re half through the year and I finally have a good method to get his verses memorized every week.  He meets on Sunday evening so on Monday morning I write his new verse on a 3×5 index card.  I put his new verse on one side and his 3 review verses on the other side.  I put the index card in the car and every time we go somewhere we go over the verse.  Since we go somewhere everyday of the week he’s easily learned it by Sunday.  Even if you’re not in Awana it’s an easy way to have your kids memorize scripture. 

 This works for me- for more tips head over to Rocks in my Dryer.

  This WFMW tip comes from an idea my good friend A had.  I’m in a dinner co-op with 5 other woman and it’s fantastic!  Once a month we each make 5 dinners that are 4-6 servings.  We get together and exchange the meals.  The idea is if you’re making- say stuffed shells (what we brought last time) instead of making it for just you and your family you go ahead and make one for everyone in the co-op.  It is obviously a little more labor intensive and expensive to make 5 rather than 1, but you’ll be getting 4 other dinners (you make one meal for yourself) in exchange so for me it’s totally worth it.  I have to have full disclosure- Hubs cooks and assembles our meals.  I am definitely not the good cook in the family and we thought that we could quite possibly get kicked out of the co-op if I made the meals.  Hubs did say that it really wasn’t that bad making all 5 dishes.

Once you receive your meals you just pop them in the freezer and break them out as needed.  With the way we eat our 4 meals will last us a good 2 weeks.  Two full weeks of not having to think about dinner is such a relief- that’s one thing I dread every day. 

To set up a co-op A emailed quite a few woman asking who wanted to join.  She decided that she wanted to have no less than 4 and no more than 8 people (there comes a time when it’s just too big).  If people in your immediate circle aren’t interested ask them to pass it on to their friends until you’re able to find enough people.  We meet at a neutral place- in our case my church- do our exchange and head home.

 For more WFMW tips head over to Rocks in my Dryer.

  Since it’s backwards WFMW I get to ask y’all a question.  In an effort to “Go Green” I wanted to see if any of y’all had any “green” cleaning products you like.  I’ve been using Method and I like it, but I also wanted to get some even more natural cleaning aids- like stuff you can find in your pantry.  Also if anyone has a good natural laundry detergent that would be great too.  My son has respiratory issues and I just want to eliminate as many harmful chemicals in our house as possible.

 Check out Rocks in my Dryer for more backwards WFMW.